While off-duty, Detective Rollins spots a young woman screaming in the back of a moving taxi. The SVU squad quickly identifies the victim as a rebellious teenager, estranged from her family and experimenting in the world of tattoos and self-mutilation. The case takes an unexpected turn when the Medical Examiner presents the detectives with a cleanly severed leg, reminiscent of a similar finding in an old unsolved case. The detectives are drawn into the psychological elements of self-mutilation and ritual amputation as they investigate two brothers in order to link the cases and find the missing woman.